Police said Monday they arrested 36-year-old Narkesh Kumar in connection with the fatal hit-and-run. Witnesses told police the man in the road was struck by a white van that sustained front-end damage.

While thousands of mail and provisional ballots remain to be counted, it appears that a significantly higher number of people voted this week in Merced County than the last gubernatorial ballot, according to the registrar of voters office.

The list of people running for elected office in Merced County’s six cities has been finalized, and some races are more crowded than others. Merced’s even-numbered city council districts are up for election this time around.

Smoke is cascading into Merced County from the huge fire in the northern part of the state leading to poor air quality, and fireworks are about to make it significantly worse, according to health officials.

Dairyman Scott Silveira said he's "confident" he has claimed the Merced County District 5 Supervisor race with more than 60 percent of the vote. He said he's "excited" about digging into the county's inner workings and figuring out how to "get out of the way" of Merced County business.

The race between county Superintendent Steve Tietjen and Merced River District Superintendent Richard Lopez seemed to be settled on Wednesday when Lopez took to Facebook and thanked his supporters while speaking about his campaign in the past tense.